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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29135586">To Catch a Falling Star</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drea_is_Dreaming/pseuds/Drea_is_Dreaming'>Drea_is_Dreaming</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band), NCT 127 - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attempt at Humor, Book 1: Howl's Moving Castle, Doyoung as Calcifer, Gen, Or did they?, Post-Book 1: Howl's Moving Castle, They forgot Doyoung's birthday, yuta as howl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:13:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,902</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29135586</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drea_is_Dreaming/pseuds/Drea_is_Dreaming</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"The matter is that it's my birthday and not only did you not get me gifts, none of you even remember it!"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Catch a Falling Star</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I really wanted to do a little something for our precious star's birthday.<br/>I'm late according to korean time, but it's still Doyoung Day where I live so... </p><p>I was already planning a Howl's Moving Castle AU so, this happened.<br/>Yuta as Howl, Mark as Sophie, Jisung as Markl the cutie!<br/>And Doyoung as Calcifer the cutest!!! </p><p>I wanted to keep it a movie au at the start but, now it's kinda part movie and part book au.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jisung took off the enchanted cloak and with it the fake grey beard and dramatically bushy eyebrows, as he closed the door behind the last customer of the evening. His problem was simple enough, an angry neighbour had bought a curse and now gigantic thorny bushes were growing in the poor man’s garden instead of cabbages. Jisung only had to put an enhancing spell on some weedkiller they had at home and instruct the man to sprinkle it generously. </p><p>As he put the cloak back in the broom closet, Jisung felt rather proud of himself. He had started when he was only 9, collecting herbs and flowers. Yuta had only taken him as an apprentice in an official capacity when he had turned 15. Now that he was nineteen and all but done with his primary education in magic, townsfolk were already calling him a wizard. He no longer needed the actual wizard, or even the in house fire demon to help him in putting together a spell.</p><p>Jisung smiled to himself as he sat down to peel some potatoes. He had even learned to cook a simple meal all by himself. Yuta had insisted that he learn. There was just one more year left, when he turned twenty he’d be eligible to join the Wizardry Academy at Kingsbury. Yuta had always complained about the food at the Academy and told Jisung he better learn to cook his food. Yuta had taught him and Mark together. They had learned very fast, and yet Jisung couldn’t really be as confident in his or Mark’s cooking skills as he was of their magical abilities. Mark was now a witch renowned all over Ingary, his very words were magic. He had developed a habit of talking to the eggs as he cooked them,</p><p>“Now you eggs better not burn. Just be cooked nice and runny, the way Yuta likes it,” he’d say, cooking breakfast for Yuta. When he was boiling them for Jisung he’d tell them “Be soft and golden on the inside, my baby doesn’t like it when his eggs are hard.”</p><p>As for Jisung, he didn’t talk to the food but to the fire beneath. Requesting it to tame its heat, or otherwise. Jisung was pretty sure any ordinary fire would not bend to his whims like so. Just as he decided he should maybe thank the fire demon, there was a whooshing sound, signalling the arrival of the same. Jisung turned around on his stool and looked at the fireplace to see Doyoung’s vaguely human silhouette within the flames.</p><p>“Ah, Hyung, you're back.” The first time Jisung had entered Yuta’s moving castle and talked to the human-like fire, Doyoung had insisted to be addressed properly. Initially, Jisung had been both fascinated and afraid. So he had complied without any questions. But over time, as he slowly made the moving castle his home, Jisung saw Yuta treat Doyoung like a friend, brother even. Never as just a demon under his control, never as something less than human. So Jisung had embraced this odd family wholeheartedly and started calling Doyoung his Hyung with sincerity. </p><p>“It's time for dinner, of course, I’m back. No one in this house has any concept of time. If I don’t return on my own you all will just struggle to get a fire going.” Doyoung replied. Jisung thought that three people with extraordinary magical powers should be able to get a fire going with ease, but with Yuta’s dramatic flair and Mark’s inspired words, he was not very sure any of them should try to start a fire using magic indoors. So he just chuckled and nodded his head in agreement.</p><p>“Where are the lovebirds anyway?” Doyoung asked, “Earlier, I could perceive Yuta’s presence even in the other world where he comes from. Now I wouldn’t know it even if he was taking a bath upstairs.”</p><p>Doyoung chuckled to himself. Jisung remembered when their bond was broken, Yuta’s heart separated from Doyoung’s being. Jisung had been so scared that one or both of them would die. Doyoung himself was scared back then, so was Yuta. Both Wizard and Demon had been dreading that moment for years.  Only Mark was brave enough to do the needful.</p><p>“I think you will definitely be able to tell if Yuta was taking a bath. I’m sure Betty next door could tell.” Jisung jokes, to change the suddenly sombre mood that had settled over Doyoung. As expected, Doyoung took the bait, he would never let any opportunity to grumble about Yuta’s extravagant baths.</p><p>“You are right! You are absolutely correct my little boy. How could I even think that?” Doyoung exclaimed with wide eyes, “Do you know how hot he wants his bath water to be? You have no idea how much hard work it was, and to keep that water hot for so long-”</p><p>Jisung heard the dial on the door turn before the door opened and a voice interrupted Doyoung.</p><p>“I’m home!” And in walked the most feared wizard in Ingary. Nakamoto Yuta, the eater of hearts and commander of demons, owner of a moving castle.</p><p>“Yuta, if you brought mud in your boots again today, I’m going to throw you out on the moors. I just mopped the floor and-” Mark started yelling as he ran downstairs, towelling his hair dry.</p><p>Catching Yuta just as the wizard had lifted his foot up to check the soles of his boots for any dirt. Doyoung blazed in all his glory to throw more light, further incriminating his friend. The Fire Demon cackled as Mark walked up to a decidedly unashamed Yuta and saw the mess his husband had made. </p><p>Jisung gave up on the vegetables and peered at the floor beneath Yuta. He wasn’t surprised in the least to see that the wizard had once again left tracks of mud in his wake. Yuta as always was unrepentant. He gave Mark a cheeky smile and gracefully presented him a bunch of flowers. Mark was understandably unimpressed by this romantic gesture, seeing how he ran a flower shop. He tossed the flowers over to the table where Jisung sat and stared at Yuta with both his hands on his hips. Mark had to choose his words carefully, especially when he was angry. He had unintentionally cursed people to terrible fates more than once. </p><p>“Don’t kick him out Mark, make him clean, make him mop the floor!” Doyoung egged on Mark from the hearth, looking over his shoulder so that he appeared to be standing.</p><p>Yuta had been smiling angelically at his husband until now, but as Mark closed his eyes in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose, the wizard threw the demon a dirty look. Jisung tried hiding his giggles behind his hand. He should really not be amused by all this. This was just their daily routine. Yuta and Doyoung's sharp bickering. Yuta and Mark’s deceptively harsh banter. One near-immortal demon, one witch who sold flowers and a wizard who lived in four places at once. They were all very strange, but they were home, they were Jisung’s family.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~~~~~</p>
</div>As Jisung was clearing up the table after dinner when he looked over at Doyoung by chance and saw the fire demon sulking. He appeared to be sitting cross-legged, with his head in his hands, pout pronounced and eyes cast downwards. The thing about Doyoung was that he grumbled, he whined, he even wailed but he never sulked silently like this. At least Jisung had never seen him look so sad, so quietly. Yuta seemed to notice too if his reluctance to go upstairs to his room was anything to go by. The wizard kept loitering around, without actually doing anything. He kept getting in Mark’s way, who eventually picked up on the mood.<p>“Doyoung, is something the matter?” Mark asked, eyebrows curving in question.</p><p>Doyoung looked up, opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, then looked at all three of them in turn and burst out into a frustrated cry. Shaking rather violently as flames wiggled all over the hearth, leaping up the chimney.</p><p>Jisung would never get used to a fire demon throwing a tantrum. No matter how many times he witnessed it. Doyoung has always been particularly dramatic. Now that he had everyone's complete attention, the fire demon complained,</p><p>"The matter is that it's my birthday and not only did you not get me gifts, none of you even remember it!" </p><p>This outburst was followed by Doyoung glowering at them, but mostly Yuta. The wizard on the other hand only looked flabbergasted. </p><p>"No, it isn't.” Yuta told him, too confidently for someone who routinely forgot his appointments with the King of Ingary himself. </p><p>“What’s the date today?” he sneakily asked Jisung, lips barely moving. This wizard, honestly. Even a ten year old Jisung had done a better job of memorising the orders of Yuta’s regular customers than the man himself.</p><p>“It's-” before Jisung could whisper back the date, Doyoung spoke up.</p><p>“You promised, and still didn’t prepare anything.” Doyoung only pouted more. </p><p>“You said you’ll all get gifts for me like you got gifts for Yuta on his birthday, but you did nothing.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~~~~~</p>
</div>Jisung was reminded of the little party they had arranged for Yuta’s third decade. Mark had single handedly baked a cake and Jisung had tried his best to decorate the castle. Even Doyoung had done his little magic and lit the candles with different hued flames. Even if Yuta had to cook the dinner himself, it had been wonderful. They had never celebrated birthdays before Mark came to live with them. And even after Mark and Yuta got married, they only started to celebrate Jisung’s birthday. Apparently it was a thing for children.<p>Last year, after the handful of guests had left, Doyoung had quietly said it was really nice to have little parties in the house. Everyone had agreed. Then the next day Doyoung had casually mentioned that giving each other gifts was nice too, and he would prepare something for Yuta next time. Yuta had told him it wasn’t necessary. A week passed and Doyoung still kept bringing up Yuta’s birthday party and saying how much he enjoyed it. When that happened, Yuta would thank Mark, and Jisung would just agree with him. Mark, the most perceptive of them all, one day asked Doyoung if he would also like to have a birthday party. </p><p>Doyoung had very enthusiastically agreed. It was like he had been waiting for someone to suggest it. Yuta had laughed at his excitement and asked him when they should celebrate it? The question had a giggling Doyoung settle into deep thought. </p><p>It was a valid question. Jisung had never pondered over it before. When would Doyoung celebrate his birthday? He wasn’t exactly born like a human. </p><p>“Let’s celebrate it on the day we met.” Doyoung told Yuta with a slight smile.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~~~~~</p>
</div>Jisung, and from the looks of it Mark too, did not know the exact date Yuta had met Doyoung for the first time. The day on which he had made the deal, and handed over his heart. Jisung  didn’t know much about that either. Just what he had overheard. Yuta had saved Doyoung and put his life at stake. It was a contract that would’ve hurt them both in the long run. Only Mark could save them both.<p>Yuta looked apologetic, and deeply upset. It was not often that the wizard let his feelings affect his countenance like this. He was always hard to read, even for Jisung who had practically grown up with him. </p><p>“I’m really sorry Doyoung. I hadn’t realised it was that day already.” the wizard apologised quietly.</p><p>Mark suggested that the day wasn’t all over, they could still do something before going to sleep, or they could stay up. Jisung and Yuta could sing along while he baked the cake. Mark even started looking for ingredients in the kitchen right away. Usually, Yuta would have joined in, or been the one to suggest an importu birthday party. But this time, Yuta just stood in front of Doyoung, the very picture of a dejected man.</p><p>“You know how bad I am with time and dates Doyoung. I really am very sorry.” He quietly apologised again, but Doyoung only shook his head. There was something in his voice that made Mark pause and look over them with slight worry in his gaze.</p><p>There was a little too much despair in the air for a party, even if it was a simple sleepover. Jisung decided to humour Doyoung a little. The best way to cheer him up was to either praise his magical caliber or to make Doyoung talk about himself. So Jisung decided to ask something he had been wanting to know for a long time, but never had thought of asking.</p><p>“Doyoung hyung, you never told me how you met Yuta hyung.” Jisung had heard snippets, but never the whole story. So he sat down and folded his legs to mimic Doyoung. Settling for a story before bed, like he used to when he was a kid. On some nights Yuta would tell him tales of different worlds, of his adventures at the Academy, of other funny encounters. Just like that Yuta also settled in front of Doyoung and beckoned Mark to come over too.</p><p>“I should tell you that story, so I can prove that I remember that day vividly and make it up to my dear friend.” Doyoung only sniffed in reply to this. But as Mark settled down on the ground and completed their little circle he punched Yuta in the arm and told him,</p><p>“No, let Doyoung tell the story. It's his birthday story.” It was Mark’s subtle effort to appease the fire demon. Doyoung did enjoy being the center of attention sometimes. So Mark gave the chance to him. At first Doyoung turned his head away looking out the window. But he could not ignore his adoring audience for long and finally gave in.</p><p>“Alright Jisung, if you really want to know.” he huffed.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~~~~~</p>
</div>Doyoung had been a star for longer than he could remember. He had lived in the sky and played with the clouds. He had looked down at the world beneath and seen mountains grow, rivers change courses, flowers bloom and forests wither. Doyoung had seen a lot, and yet when the time came for him to fall, he felt like he hadn’t seen enough.<p>He had always admired the world below, the rolling meadows, the rocky moors. His twinkling reflection in the lake. The lake had always looked lovely to him, even as he saw other stars fall and go sizzling out into the lake. Disappeared forever. It had all looked so alluring from up above. </p><p>But now, now as he went spiralling down to drown and disappear forever in the same lake. Doyoung felt something he had never felt before. He felt sadness, despair, and hopelessness take hold of him. Above all that, he was afraid. That was a new and altogether unpleasant feeling. </p><p>He knew stars died, just like everyone else in the world. And yet. It felt unfair, he had no memory of being born, never had anything, or anyone to cherish. </p><p>Just as he was about to touch the ground, he noticed that he wouldn’t fall into the lake, but among the grassy meadow surrounding it. Well, he’d have to bounce his way to the water now.</p><p>As he was about to touch the ground, he saw a human come running towards him. A boy perhaps. He had sharp eyes and long dark hair. He approached Doyoung with his arms outstretched, and as he caught the star in his hands, a wide, dazzling smile adorned his lips.</p><p>“Caught you!” the boy said.</p><p>“Who are you! And why did you catch me?” Doyoung forgot his fear for a moment, and confronted the boy. He was not a child, but he was also not a grown man.</p><p>“ So many questions! Well firstly I’m Yuta, the wizard,” the boy told him, “ And to answer your second question, I’ve always wanted to catch a falling star.”</p><p>Doyoung could not understand why anyone would want to catch a falling star, and even if he did, why was the boy so happy about it? Doyoung was going to disappear in a few moments anyway. So what was the reason for his bright smile? Doyoung asked as much. But as he finished speaking the boy’s smile vanished.</p><p>“Are you dying? Why?” he asked, his voice trembled.</p><p>“I just told you! Like all stars, I’ll have to jump into the lake, or i’ll probably go out right here in your hands if you keep holding me.” </p><p>The boy looked over at the lake on hearing this, and promptly saw another star fall into and sink in the waters. The sight did nothing to ease the tension in Yuta’s face, or the fear in Doyoung. But when he looked back at Doyoung, something had changed in Yuta’s eyes.</p><p>“I can’t just let you die like that. Do you want to die?” He asked, visibly confused.</p><p>“No! No, of course not!” Doyoung shouted at him. </p><p>“Then don’t. Don't jump into the lake.” he said it like it was just that simple.</p><p>“Do you really think if I could save myself I would be falling down from the sky like this? Do you really think I want to die alone like this?” Doyoung scolded him.</p><p>The boy looked at him with pity. </p><p>“Is there really no way to save a falling star?” He said, more to himself than to Doyoung.</p><p>Doyoung thought for a moment. There weren’t many moments left to spare. There was a way, but…</p><p>He could make a very selfish deal, or he could die a decent star…</p><p>In his last moment Doyoung decided to just say it. It was Yuta’s call anyways. If a wizard had found him at such a time and was willing to save Doyoung, it must be fate.</p><p>“There is a way,” he began, and Yuta perked up, “ I would need a heart, a human one, if I have to survive in the human realm.”</p><p>Yuta looked even more confused than before, so Doyoung tried to explain it again.</p><p>“I am no longer a star so I would become a demon if I continue to exist in this realm. If someone was willing to share their source of life with me, I could live off it.”</p><p>Yuta’s face cleared. He was a wizard after all, he must know about the contracts made between practitioners of magic and demons. Doyoung wasn’t a demon yet. But if he accepted Yuta’s heart he would be.</p><p>He saw Yuta look at the horizon, deep in thought. </p><p>“I would offer my powers of course. If you- if you shared your heart with me, I would be in your service.” Doyoung’s speech became quicker, more frantic. But Yuta’s face only became calmer. His eyes finally turned back to the star in his hands.</p><p>“Alright.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Alright, I agree, I will share my heart with you.” Yuta said, like it was that simple.</p><p>Doyoung only stared up at him. So Yuta chuckled and started to draw runes in the air with his right hand.</p><p>“So my little star, what is your name?” Yuta asked, in the midst of drawing a rune that had begun to glow a little.  As Doyoung answered Yuta completed the rune and it glowed brighter, brighter than even Doyoung.</p><p>“Doyoung, from this day onwards, and even to the end of my time in this world, my heart is your possession. In return you have promised to comply with every wish I make. From this day forth, our lives are intertwined, neither of us would die alone.”</p><p>With those words Yuta pushed Doyoung into his chest and brought him back out in a moment. Only this time, he was holding his heart, surrounded by the golden flame that was now Doyoung.</p><p>“Doyoung, today you are born anew.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~~~~~</p>
</div>“Woah, Yuta hyung, that was very brave of you,” Jisung told him, awed by the tale, “you really put your life at stake to save Doyoung hyung. Just in a moment, you didn’t even know him back then.”<p>Yuta just chuckled, his eyes were glazed over, looking at his hands. As if he was reliving the memory of holding a star in his hands. Mark hugged him, and then pulled in Jisung for a hug too. Doyoung, who’s mood had improved a lot over the course of narrating their first encounter, leaned in for a hug too, and made all three of them tumble back in panic. With Mark crying out “Wait, wait, Doyoung hold on!” in a high pitched voice.</p><p>They all just ended up laughing.</p><p>“That was a very heart touching story. Doyoung we can celebrate your birthday tomorrow. From next year I will be sure to remember the date.” Mark promised as he got up and headed back to prepare a cake.</p><p>“I’ll invite Jeno hyung and Taeyong hyung too.” Jisung added, no party was complete without Mark’s brothers. Doyoung particularly adored Jeno, even if he had some silly arguments with eldest Lee brother.</p><p>“Inviting Taeyong means Jaehyun will come along too. I’ll just tell him to bring Jaemin with him too.” Yuta said. </p><p>That rounded up their circle of close friends, and people Doyoung was fond of. Even if it was a day too late, Doyoung seemed satisfied with his birthday party preparations.</p><p>“Let me write the date somewhere so we don’t forget it again.” Jisung said, getting up and grabbing his diary and a pen. As he wrote down the date, he also spoke it aloud.</p><p>“The last day of the first month of the year.” </p><p>“What?”<br/>
“Huh?”</p><p>Jisung looked up to see a very confused wizard and an equally confused fire demon staring at him.</p><p>“The date?” Jisung said it like a question.</p><p>“The first month isn’t over yet?” Doyoung asked, with honest surprise in his wide eyes.</p><p>“Yah! No doubt. Of course. Ah how could I forget. I knew the second month hadn't started yet!” Yuta kept rambling excitedly.</p><p>“Why are you two fussing over the date now?” Mark asked, coming out of the kitchen, with arms covered in flour till his elbows. Jisung picked out bits of egg shells from his hair.</p><p>“Mark! The day we met, the day we sealed the contract! It was the first day of the second month!” Yuta loudly exclaimed. “I knew I couldn’t be so wrong, that too about something so important. Ah! You! Doyoung you were the one who forgot!”</p><p>Doyoung was very affronted by this. </p><p>“I didn’t forget! I merely got the day wrong! I thought the second month had begun today.” </p><p>“Ah…” Mark finally figured out what had happened, “ So no need to worry or sulk now. We can have the birthday party on time!”</p><p>As he said the last bit he raised his arm in excitement. Only he had been whisking together the batter for the cake, and some of it went flying around them. Doyoung skillfully avoided any, but Yuta got some in his face and spluttered. Mark immediately went over to him and wiped his face, trying his hardest not to laugh.</p><p>But Jisung had no such reservations. He laughed out loud.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fun Fact: Taeyong is Lettie here.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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